


Halloween

by Sirenidae



Category: Pacific Rim (2013)
Genre: Alcohol, Cute, F/M, First Kiss, Fluff, Fluff and Angst, Funny, Gen, Halloween, Halloween Costumes, Memories, Mild Language, One Shot, Prompt Fic, Short
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2013-08-20
Updated: 2013-08-20
Packaged: 2017-12-24 02:27:54
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings, No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 5,173
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/934115
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Sirenidae/pseuds/Sirenidae
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Raleigh decides to introduce Mako to Halloween by throwing a party at the little cottage they now live in together.</p>
            </blockquote>





	Halloween

**Author's Note:**

  * For [Miss_Six](https://archiveofourown.org/users/Miss_Six/gifts).



> Takes place on the first October after the Breach is destroyed in January, so about ten months after the end of Pacific Rim, in Westport, California, near Fort Bragg.
> 
> For tumblr user [beautimous](http://beautimous.tumblr.com) requesting from my [Pacific Rim Fic Prompt and Rec post](http://thebitchqueenofangmar.tumblr.com/post/58202833041/pacific-rim-fic-prompts-or-requests) on tumblr.
> 
> View original post [here](http://thebitchqueenofangmar.tumblr.com/post/58763597200/halloween-for-beautimous).

It was the end of the world and no one had put very much effort into celebrating holidays anymore, especially the minor and more niche ones, not while the threat of Kaiju was still imminent. Father’s Day and Mother’s Day were the first to go, as any holiday celebrating a parent was quickly replaced by remembering them at a funeral, if anyone was left to remember. In America, Thanksgiving fell off almost right from the start: what was there left to be thankful for? Saint Patrick’s Day, the bank holidays, Halloween, and Valentine’s Day all dropped out of fashion one by one. Globally, the more major holidays remained, usually the religious ones. Christmas survived, as did Easter, although what was the point, really? Hanukkah left, with only Rosh Hashanah and Yom Kippur remaining. Ramadan stayed on with an iron grip, its observers refusing to let the tradition die, even though with all the food shortages every month soon felt like the ninth.

Yet, with the advent of the Breach being successfully destroyed and the Kaiju threat neutralized, holidays began to make a comeback with Halloween as, surprisingly to some, one of the first to return. So on the 31st of October, when Raleigh found out Mako didn’t have a costume with which to celebrate the revival of the holiday that first October, he rightfully panicked.

“Mako, what are you talking about? Of course you need a costume! That’s the best part of the holiday,” Raleigh was saying, slightly out of breath and a little more manic than usual.

Mako looked at Raleigh patiently and gave him a small smile. “You know I didn’t grow up with Halloween in Japan, we had many other celebrations.”

“Still,” Raleigh said, continuing to pin up some decorations. “I also know how much you like candy. So get excited.”

Mako let out a laugh, watching him descend from a mini-step ladder in their living room. “I do love chocolate.” Raleigh grinned as he bent to open a black plastic bag on the floor.

“Good, so that’s…”

“Raleigh! What is that?” Mako cried out, interrupting him. He looked at her, confused. Raleigh had just pulled out a giant mess of fluffy white stuff from the plastic garbage bag and was holding it in his hands.

“Fake spider webs, for outside,” he said slowly. “It goes on the bushes.”

Mako stared at him. “No. You are not putting that on the bushes.” Raleigh’s face broke into a huge grin.

“Yes I am, that’s the best part!”

Mako huffed and ticked off on her fingers. “You said that the best part was the costumes, then the candy, and now the decorations? Make up your mind.” Raleigh dropped the fluff and walked over to her, putting his hands on her shoulders.

“Mako, I say this with a very heavy heart…” Raleigh couldn’t help but let his mouth twitch in mischief. “If you don’t let me put the spider web on the bushes, I will have to vote you off the island.”

She batted his hands away. “Oh, please. Not with the dramatics.”

His face fell. “Shit.”

“What?” Mako asked, concerned.

“I forgot to buy cider donuts.”

Mako stared at Raleigh, incredulous. She pushed him away. “I thought you were being serious,” she said, trying to look annoyed and failing as she chuckled at his silly behavior.

Raleigh patted her cheek. “Oh don’t you worry, I’m plenty serious about Halloween.” Mako rolled her eyes as Raleigh turned to rush out of their house. He grabbed the keys to their car with a loud jangle and opened the door.

“You better have a costume ready for tonight!” he called out as the screen closed behind him. In the driveway, he faced the house again, pointing at the shrubs near the front door. “And you should finish putting up the webbing while I’m gone!” Mako might have given him the finger, but he couldn’t be sure.

She watched him drive off, presumably to the nearest supermarket, which was an hour away. At least two hours of silence now, she thought, turning back to the living room: It was so filled with orange and black things that she winced. Mako glanced sideways to the white fluffy web on the ground and decided to ignore it. Retreating to her room to tinker with the wiring from their broken doorbell, Mako figured she would have it fixed by the time the guests began to arrive. After the doorbell, maybe she would even scrounge together a costume.

Raleigh was hosting a party that night in the small cottage in northern California he and Mako split the rent on. Unable, or unwilling they weren’t sure, to live anywhere but in close proximity to one another, they had found a place to live almost immediately, about a month after being debriefed by the former PPDC.

Mako had picked the house, wanting to live among the Earth’s biggest trees, wanting to feel enclosed and safe, like in a Jaeger. Raleigh had agreed; He wanted to be around the safety of the Redwood giants too, but he needed to see the ocean, to keep an eye on the Pacific, just to make sure. So they settled on renting a house in Westport, a town near Fort Bragg: The Pacific Ocean on one side, the silent, calming Redwoods on the other. Home.

After fixing the doorbell, Mako decided to take a nap, wanting to be able to stay up if the party went as late as Raleigh imagined it would. They hadn’t Drifted together for about ten months, but with one look into his eyes, she could guess to what he was thinking. Whenever he did this to her, she would get annoyed, wanting to keep surprises from him like when she bought the car, or when she had made him that cake for his half-birthday. But when she did it to him, it was almost as if he didn’t notice, or as if he wanted her to read him like a book. She smiled thinking about it when she woke up from her nap, smelling melting caramel coming from the kitchen. Mako glanced at a clock on her bedside table: 5:30, he was right on Halloween party schedule.

Raleigh had returned from the store in record time, it was just after five o’clock and he was excited that he had found the last of the cider donuts. He turned off the engine of the little Honda they shared and considered the house. He let out a soft chuckle when he realized Mako hadn’t put up the webbing. As he got out of the car and headed up the driveway, Raleigh idly wondered how much trouble he would be in if he snuck into Mako’s room while she was sleeping and put all the fluff on her floor.

The house had that quiet, sleepy atmosphere to it that let him know Mako was taking a nap. Was it the house or the Drift? Putting the donuts down on the kitchen counter, Raleigh smiled gently, not really caring which it was. He crossed to the fridge and pulled out a tray of apples. He’d let her sleep, but only until the apples were done. Then he’d change and wake her up.

A half hour later, Raleigh strode out of his room with a huge grin on his face. “Mako!” he called out. “Wake up! Come check this out!” He looked at himself in the hallway mirror, admiring his wizard costume, complete with long white beard and pointy hat. “Mako, let’s see yours,” he said, still grinning through his fake beard at his reflection and making minor adjustments to his robe. Mako’s door opened and Raleigh’s face fell. “What…” he trailed off looking at his former Jaeger copilot. Mako was wearing brown trousers and a plain tan long-sleeved shirt. On her head she had fuzzy animal ears on a headband that looked vaguely feline. “What are you supposed to be?” Raleigh asked, quickly deflating from his previous excitement.

Mako frowned. “I’m a lion. See? Ears, brown clothes.”

Raleigh gave a short laugh. “Mako…I really don’t think you get what Halloween is about.”

Mako continued to frown at him. “I get it just fine, I just don’t have a need to look like an idiot,” she said, emphasizing her words so it was clear she meant Raleigh in particular. He ignored the insult.

“That’s the point, everyone’s going to look like an idiot,” he said as Mako walked past him into the living room. “At least let me put some makeup on you.” Raleigh hastily tried to follow her and tripped over his wizard’s robe. He caught himself as Mako turned and stared at him. “No, like costuming make-up, not like make-up, make-up.” Raleigh stood there, smiling earnestly at her.

Mako considered the look in his eyes. A Drift memory popped into Mako’s head:  _Raleigh as a young child, uncontrollably excited for the American holiday, decorating his house with his father, carving pumpkins with Yancy and Jazmine, eating caramel apples. She felt his disappointment when people stopped celebrating it, his guilt when he still wanted to, even in the face of the end of the world. He has always loved Halloween. He would always love Halloween._ She let out a sigh. “Okay make-up, but whiskers and a nose only. Nothing fancy.”

“What about a tail?”

Mako stayed silent, enjoying watching him try not to squirm. “I don’t have one,” she said finally.

Raleigh let out a whoop. “I do! And you won’t be sorry!” he said excitedly over his shoulder as he went to go get the face-paint.

“I already am,” Mako muttered in Japanese. It this made Raleigh happy, it made her happy. Also if it got him to shut up about her half-assed costume… Mako heard a loud clatter come from the bathroom followed by Raleigh’s voice uttering a curse. After a few more minutes and a few more crashing noises, Raleigh reemerged with a box Mako had never seen before under one arm.

“This is going to be great. Wait until Herc sees you.” Raleigh plunked down on the ottoman and scooted it closer to the couch, tugging the fake beard off his face so he could better see. Mako froze; having forgotten Raleigh had invited him.

“おやおや!” she said, sitting down on the couch when Raleigh patted the spot opposite from him with his hand. “I wonder what Marshall Hansen will be dressed as.” She mused over several costume ideas as Raleigh opened the box and took out a brush and some brown face paint. She leaned into his hands without him having to instruct her.

A strange emotion flashed over Raleigh’s face. “He’s not ‘Marshall’ anymore, remember?” Then, his face brightened. “I bet he dresses Max up in something good,” Raleigh said cheerfully, dipping the brush in the paint and bringing the soft bristles to Mako’s cheeks, painting on whiskers and a nose.

"Not the dog too?" Mako gave Raleigh a funny look that made him want to kiss her. “That will be very funny," Mako said, trying to remain still. Raleigh got his mind back on finishing the first whisker and dipped the brush again to paint another.

"Yeah," he said slowly, his mind completely with his task. Raleigh had pulled his lips in tight over his teeth as he concentrated on making her whiskers look even. It made Mako want to kiss him. He leaned back and surveyed his work. Deeming it satisfactory, he grinned at Mako playfully. "When I say everyone dresses up for Halloween, I mean  _everyone_.” Mako snorted. “Now the tail!” Raleigh exclaimed, producing a brown tie that he had hurriedly glued several cotton balls to the end of. “I know it sucks, but this is last minute so you’ll have to… What?”

Mako looked distressed. “Your tie is ruined!”

"When am I ever going to wear a tie?"

"True." Mako stood and turned, holding a hand out for the "tail". Raleigh cleared his throat.

"Yeah, you should do it. Just tuck it… Yeah, like that." He swallowed when Mako turned back to face him. She didn’t look very much like a lion, but at least she had some sort of costume on. "You look good," he said with a smile. They both froze, the familiar words bringing them back, almost a year ago, to a Conn-Pod in Hong Kong.

Mako broke from the memory first, walking past Raleigh to the hallway. “Now I have to see how I look!” she said, a forced brightness to her voice. Raleigh suddenly felt tired, beyond tired, but he smiled as Mako went to the mirror. “Raleigh…” she said when she saw her reflection. “I look so weird!” She looked back at Raleigh and wrinkled her nose. “Mako-Lion!” She gave a little growl in jest. The resulting effect almost made Raleigh’s heart stop. He busied himself with re-adjusting his beard.

"You look fine," he said quickly. "Come help me with the food." Mako took one more look in the mirror, barred her teeth, and went to assist Raleigh in the kitchen.

Guests started arriving around 7:15, after it had gotten dark. They were mostly friends from the shatterdome, the crew of Gipsy Danger from either Alaska or Hong Kong, who had moved to California like Mako and Raleigh. Hardly any partygoers were friends either Mako or Raleigh had or made before their lives as Rangers: A neighbor or two, perhaps, and a young couple from town, but they came and went within the hour, uncomfortable in the presence of all the former PPDC employees.

Tendo Choi showed up, wearing the lamest ghost costume Raleigh had ever seen. “Sorry,” Tendo offered by way of an apology. His wife, Alison, looked much more put together in a full cowboy outfit, supporting their almost two-year-old son who was dressed as a cow on her hip.

She leaned in to kiss Raleigh on the cheek. “I tried to get him to be my horse, but he was having none of it.” Alison gave Mako a brief hug before the little cow started to whine. “Aw, crud, I promised him candy…” she trailed off. Mako pointed to several full bowls on the kitchen counter and smiled. “Thanks,” Alison said before moving off toward the sweets.

Several more people trickled in, those that were in the area and who had decided that the party was worth it to leave their houses for. In total, there weren’t that many people in Mako and Raleigh’s living room, which suited Mako just fine. The room wasn’t big enough for more than the twelve people anyway. Everyone complimented Mako on her lion costume and laughed at Raleigh’s wizard beard. At one point in the night, Tendo and Alison’s son would tug on it so hard that the elastic would snap, causing Raleigh to give up on the beard and throw into a corner of the living room, the white hairs adding to a pile of white fluffy webbing.

The doorbell Mako had fixed rang around eight o’clock, signaling the arrival of the last guests. “I bet that’s Herc and Max,” Raleigh called out over the music before reaching over to the stereo to turn it down. It wasn’t his Halloween mix, Mako had slipped in another CD while he had been at the supermarket, but he didn’t mind. Mako was closest to the door so she moved to open it.

"Trick-er-treat," an Australian voice said. Mako smiled at the former Marshall and gave a small bow.

"It is Trick- _or_ -treat,” she gently teased. “Raleigh was very clear on that part. I even practiced.”

Hercules Hansen laughed. “Trick- _or_ -treat then,” he said. Mako stepped aside to let him and Max, who was dressed up just as Raleigh had predicted, through the door. Once he caught Mako’s scent, the dog barked happily and the rest of the partygoers turned to look at them. Herc waved.

“Doggy!” Tendo and Alison’s son screamed out, causing everyone to laugh. The toddler made his way over to the animal Mako was petting.

Herc looked down at the child. “His name is Max, if you want to know. He’s dressed up as the devil. Tendo, does he know what the devil is? Which I think goes perfectly with my costume.”

Tendo raised a plastic cup full of apple cider to Herc from where he sat on the couch. “That doesn’t look like a costume,” he said. It was true; Herc was wearing his old PPDC uniform, complete with medals and insignia of rank.

Herc tugged at the bottom of the military blazer. “Raleigh said fictional and imaginative things work well for costumes. I figure since PPDC officers are now extinct, this is as imaginative as you can get.” Silence met this as the people in the living room let the depressive words sink in.

Raleigh stood. “Would this be a good time to offer everyone something stronger than apple cider?” A chorus of “yes” and “yes pleases” came from the crowd gathered in the living room. Raleigh and Mako passed around the hard alcohol and beer purchased for the party and they all drank, at first just sipping and politely drinking slowly.

This quickly devolved into everyone toasting forgotten friends, absent friends, fallen pilots, fallen Jaegers, far away cities, the meals in the shatterdome’s cafeterias, the bathrooms, the smells, anything they could remember from “those days”. Sometimes they all talked at once, jabbering over each other’s voices trying to get out the funniest bits of a story fastest, and other times they sat there, drinking from their cups or bottles with far-off looks in their eyes and vague smiles hovering on their lips.

It was during one of the more uproarious stories, where Tendo was telling a joke about how he had once accidentally bumped into Lieutenant Aleksis Kaidanovsky and was scared for his life, when his son began to get ornery, crying as it was so much past his bedtime and his belly was too full of sugar. Alison heaved the child up from the floor next to Herc’s dog and asked Raleigh if she could put her son to sleep in his bed until they left. Raleigh waved a hand yes, that it was fine.

“I’ll just sleep in Mako’s room if I need to,” he joked, laughing with Tendo. Mako choked on her beer, spraying some down her chin. Everyone laughed and Tendo clapped Mako on the back. One of her whiskers smudged when she wiped her face making her look a bit goofy but when she grinned up at Raleigh he thought she was the most… Well that could just be the alcohol talking. Raleigh looked away, blushing slightly, but smiling out around the room, enjoying the sights of the party. Mako followed his gaze.

Two technicians who used to work on the engineering behind Gipsy Danger’s elbow rocket were in the kitchen, mixing some sort of apple cider and vodka drink. When they saw Raleigh and Mako look at them, they turned their backs, hiding the mixture saying it was top secret! Alison and Tendo were curled around each other on one end of the couch, laughing quietly, whispering softly, and eating the last of the cider donuts. Tendo had abandoned his ghost costume and was now wearing his wife’s cowboy hat on his head. Herc was absentmindedly petting Max and speaking to a young woman who used to work in the pit crew for Gipsy Danger. She was telling him about her plans for the future.

Here were their friends, slightly tipsy and slightly broken, but all here, together. This is why Raleigh loved Halloween, not just for the costumes, or the candy, or even the decorations, but because it, like every other holiday, brought people together. Mako and Raleigh sighed happily and then looked at each other, realizing they had both made the noise at the same time. The party was perfect; this was perfect.

“Mako,” Tendo said, coming out of the secret, loving conversation he had been having with his wife. “You have to tell us all the story of you and Raleigh in the Kwoon again!” Others around the room seconded this idea. Mako put her hands up, resisting with a smile and a laugh before saying she would do it.

Raleigh was getting another beer and he straightened when he heard Tendo say this, popping the cap off with a bottle opener. “Why do you never ask me to tell this story, always Mako?”

Alison laughed. “I wasn’t in the PPDC and even I know that she tells it better, Raleigh,” Tendo’s wife said, scooping up a handful of candy corn from a bowl on a nearby coffee table and picking at the candy one by one. Raleigh rolled his eyes in good humor but it was true, Mako had always been able to recount the tale better than he.

Mako sat up straight on the couch and gave a subconscious little bow of her head to Raleigh. He knew what she meant and moved to sit back down next to her on the couch, smiling from behind his beer. “We were there, in the Kwoon. Raleigh was on the floor, fighting against the best of the best, the pilot trainees I had hand picked. He was beating them all but he was doing it in the wrong way.” Those who had been there that day chuckled. “He was letting them get in a couple of moves too many. Very lazy if you ask me,” Mako turned and smiled at Raleigh who moved his arm to rest on the couch behind her back. He adjusted into a more comfortable position on the cushions. Mako looked at him as he shifted his body.

“Please, continue,” he said with a grin, spreading out a hand in front of him. “This is about to get a lot more embarrassing for me.” Herc laughed.

“Of course, it didn’t help that everyone else showed up to watch. Even the other pilot teams,” the Australian said. “I believe I remember a rumor that the Wei triplets were making fun of you for the rest of the day.”

The girl who had worked in Gipsy’s pit crew shook her head, already laughing as she tried to speak the words in her mouth. “Everyone showed up but the Russians!’ she shouted gaily.

Tendo chuckled. “Right! You’re so right! Those scary motherfuckers were too busy breaking in their bunk to come see this fight.” Alison lightly shoved at her husband. “What?” Tendo asked with mild confusion, the laugh still on his face.

“Language!” she joked with Tendo who just threw an arm around her shoulders, bringing Alison in for a kiss on the side of her temple.

Mako drew breath to continue with her story when the doorbell rang. Everyone looked around puzzled, but Mako and Raleigh just shrugged. “We are not expecting anyone else,” Mako said. It was a little before nine thirty, much too late for any guests and it was probably too late for any… Raleigh figured it out first.

“Holy shit!” he shouted, standing up suddenly and upsetting his beer. Raleigh hit a button on the stereo, ending the music. “We actually have trick-or-treaters!” Raleigh dashed, as best he could after as many beers as he had drunk, between the legs of everyone on and gathered around the couch. “Watch out!” he said to Tendo, nearly stepping on his toes. Raleigh grabbed a bowl of candy from the kitchen counter and ran over to the door, wrenching it open and holding open the screen in one swift motion.

“Trick-or-treat!” a group of young voices said from the other side of the door.

Everyone leaned around, trying to glimpse the costumes, smiling expectantly, when they heard Raleigh’s gasp. “Oh my god.”

Herc frowned, worried. “What is it?” he asked. “Are you okay?” Raleigh’s head popped back around the open door, he was wearing an odd expression.

“You guys are never going to believe this,” was all he said before opening the door as wide as it could go and beckoning the trick-or-treaters to stand just inside the threshold of the little house. Before Mako, Herc, Tendo, and all the former PPDC workers stood two child-sized versions of the Jaegers Striker Eureka and Gipsy Danger.

Mako gasped as the third trick-or-treater came into view. It was a little version of herself: Mako Mori the Halloween costume. The girl was wearing plain military clothes and had her dark hair styled in the bob Mako sported back in January. The child even had the two blue streaks. Mako was glad her hair was long enough for a ponytail now. She didn’t know if she could handle it if this little double knew who the lady dressed as a lion really was.

Raleigh was kneeling down before the children who looked to be about nine or ten. He was admiring their costumes, clearly bought by parents who had money, but he asked them questions as if they had made the costumes themselves. The child dressed as Gipsy Danger lifted the honeycomb face shield, revealing the face of a little boy missing his two front teeth. “Check this out,” he said with a slight lisp from his missing teeth. “Sword!” the boy yelled, jerking his left arm like he was trying to adjust something. A plastic toy chain-sword fell out of the left arm of the Gipsy Danger costume and the boy swung it around enthusiastically. The PPDC officer who had helped Mako install the sword was sitting on the couch and when he caught Mako’s eye, they laughed.

Striker Eureka and Mako Mori were busy digging through the bowl of candy Raleigh had forgotten about on the ground. The Striker Eureka costume had a headpiece that was more like a helmet and could be removed completely. Currently, Striker’s head was off and resting at the feet of a the girl who was wearing the Australian Jaeger costume, her long blonde hair both fuzzy and damp from being in the helmet. Mako Mori had unwrapped a piece of bubblegum and was chewing it furiously, the piece too big for her small mouth. Raleigh was still entranced by the Gipsy Danger costume.

“How come you chose Gipsy Danger?” Raleigh asked with an emotional hitch to his voice. The boy raised the honeycombed face shield that had slipped back down over his face.

“Because she’s the best, obviously. She saved the day.” The boy moved to the candy bowl and began filling his pillowcase.

The girl dressed as Striker Eureka stood up from the candy, frowning at the boy’s words. “No, Striker is the best. Check it out,” she said motioning to the carefully constructed costume chest missiles. “Two words: Superior Firepower.” She said this more to the boy dressed as Gipsy Danger than anyone else. The boy rolled his eyes.

“So tell me, why did you choose this Jaeger?” Raleigh asked the girl.

Striker Eureka puffed out her chest. “Because Chuck Hansen and Stacker Pentecost were the bravest Jaeger pilots ever! Do you know Chuck had eleven Kaiju kills? That’s the most, ever!” Mako saw movement out of the corner of her eye. Herc had put his head in his hands and was sobbing quietly into them. She moved to sit next to the man on the couch, tears pricking at her own eyes at the mention of her adoptive father’s name.

“Marshall,” she said, forgetting he no longer held that position. “Marshall Hansen, what is wrong?” She clasped his hands in hers and cocked her head when he looked up with a smile. She realized then what he was feeling, for she was feeling it as well.

“Nothing’s wrong, Miss Mori. I’m crying because my son,” Herc’s voice broke. “Because my son is remembered.” Mako felt her throat catch and tears begin to spill over her cheeks.

She wiped at her face. “I know what you mean,” she whispered.

Eventually the children got bored and left the house, waving happily as they left, pillowcases filled full with the candy Raleigh had bought for the party. Raleigh remained in his kneeling position by the door, staring after the kids. Finally, he looked around at everyone, standing up slowly and closing the door. “I think I’m going to take a walk,” Raleigh said. Mako stood from where she was next to Herc.

“Do you want…?”

“Yes.”

Mako moved to stand next to Raleigh and bowed quickly back at everyone in the living room. “We will be right back, please continue to enjoy the party.” She heard the screen door shut and Mako turned to see that Raleigh had left before her, walking outside in a way that looked like he was asleep. Mako quickly went after him. Back in the living room, everyone exchanged knowing looks, even Herc gave a watery smile.

“Raleigh,” Mako called after him as she ran to catch up. “Raleigh, wait!”

He turned, frowning as if he wasn’t expecting her to be there. “Mako…” his eyes were distant. He held out a hand and she slipped her fingers into his. “Mako I knew that was you…”

Mako huffed a small sigh. “You are being dramatic again,” she said.

Raleigh finally let his eyes truly focus on her. He grinned. “Am I?” He looked at her then, their eyes telling each other what was in their souls. Mako could feel their hearts speeding up at the same rhythm, matching beat for beat. “That was just so surreal, seeing those kids as Jaegers,” Raleigh’s voice cracked. “As our Jaeger.”

“And as me,” Mako said. Raleigh chuckled.

“I noticed that.” Raleigh adopted an interviewer voice. “How does it feel, Miss Mori, to be a Halloween costume?”

Not wanting to dismiss it completely as a joke, Makor considered this, her nose wrinkling in thought. “It feels…oh!” Raleigh pulled on her hand he held, tugging her close to him and wrapping her tightly into a hug. They stood there, out in the middle of their driveway, holding each other for some time. Although, if they had been asked, neither one would be able to estimate an exact amount of minutes.

“Do you think everyone liked my Halloween party?” Raleigh’s voice was muffled, his face tucked into the crook of Mako’s neck where it met her shoulder.

She laughed. “Of course they did. I enjoyed it too.” Raleigh broke from the hug, straightening so he could look down at her, but keeping his arms interlocked around her. Mako squeezed her own arms that were wrapped around his back. “And do you know what the best part is?” Mako said, smiling up at Raleigh who shook his head.

“Tell me.”

“We don’t have any gross spider web to clean off our bushes tomorrow.”

Raleigh looked concerned. “Oh no, Mako, you misunderstand me. I’m keeping these decorations up until Thanksgiving.”

Mako looked shocked before smiling and stretching up on her toes to press her lips gently to his.


End file.
